A fresh cut, a new backpack, and a story to tell. Durham native and New Orleans Pelicans guard/forward Trey Murphy III, offered a one stop shop to kids in his hometown on Saturday.
“I have a really big heart for Durham,” Murphy said. “There’s a lot of people before me that came back and showed their support for the city so I’m just trying to do the same thing.”
Murphy held his 4th annual Back to School Bash at the Irwin R. Holmes Sr. Recreation Center. The event offered free food, haircuts, backpacks, school supplies, and other activities in a partnership with organizations from the city of Durham.
“I love this city,” Murphy said. “Grew up here, born and bred here, I carry that with a lot of pride.”
Murphy is a rising star in the NBA coming off a season where he scored a career high 21.2 points per game. At 6’9, he towered over most of the kids at the event, but he made sure to not make anyone feel small. He stopped to take pictures and speak with everyone in attendance, one at a time.
“I love kids, so to be able to give back and be a little bit of an inspiration for them is super important to me,” Murphy said. “That’s what I would have wanted as a child, so being that little bit of hope for them helps.”
Murphy suffered a season ending torn labrum injury in his right shoulder back in March, but said he was feeling healthy and ready to build off last season.
“Only thing to do is to go up right now,” Murphy said. “I’ve gotten a lot better, and a lot smarter. We have a good team around us. As long as we are healthy I think we are going to have a really good team.”